Heart of Iron, Will of Steel
by Jake456
Summary: Andrew earns a scholarship and meets new friends who will help him forge a new destiny for himself and the world. (Warning: Slash pairings)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own either the Buffy series, the DC or the Marvel universes.

 **Note** : The Marvel comics do not exist in this universe.

Prologue

" _I live_ ," the voice whispered, " _You live. We do not belong here but these gifts I bequeath you; a heart of iron and a will of steel and the knowledge of your blood, your life changes this very day for the best._ "

Andrew's eyes shot open and he got out of bed, he looked confused as he looked outside and saw that it was a stormy ugly day.

As he walked out the wind brushed his face and rain poured down, he drew the coat around himself and was trying to hide from the wind.

Jonathon walked next to him and said, "Hi Andrew, I heard that some teacher from out east is coming here, he wants to see our best and I guess he means Willow or Oz."

Andrew nodded, he didn't know who those people were and, right now, he didn't care.

Jonathon kept babbling on and Andrew frowned as he heard the whisper, " _I feel, I think. You and I are one now, forever._ "

Andrew looked up and he was surprised to see that they were at the school already and he frowned as he walked to his locker when Jonathon shrugged.

He was beginning his first year of high school and Andrew hated it, the last year Tucker had some mean people pick on him and he turned his rage on his baby brother.

Andrew looked up and saw Principal Snyder who said, "Please go to your classroom Mr. Wells."

The voice whispered, " _Your fate changes; you will travel far from this place and so shall you be forgotten by those that live here._ "

As he got to his classroom Snyder walked in and said, "This is Professor McManus of Excelsior Academy and he is here to see our best and brightest, such as they are, so you will all be given these tests."

A cheerful man smiled and said, "We want to offer you all the chance to be the best you can be and the one we pick will have a full scholarship. We have high hopes for all of you."

Snyder rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah right, as if any of these mouth breathers are going to amount to anything, I'm looking at you Harris."

Andrew saw a dark haired boy look upset but he just looked back at the man who handed him the papers and Andrew blinked as he looked at the papers.

They made sense, the mathematical formulas made sense, his mom said that he was good at math and arts but today it was easy.

He turned the page and saw some scientific formulas and they made perfect sense, what was going on?

" _Answer their questions,"_ the voice whispered, " _And change your fate. Bound no longer, bound no longer."_

Andrew shrugged and he answered the pages of questions and finished the test and he saw a few others finishing.

He got dismissed and he promptly forgot about the tests because he thought they weren't important to him.

Two weeks later Andrew was walking home, it was a good few weeks of beautiful weather and he and Jonathon played every day and also no weird voices.

As he walked home Tucker ran up to him and asked, "Andrew, did you cheat on those tests?"

"What tests?" Andrew asked confused, "Oh, those prep school test?"

"Yeah, you didn't even try," Tucker said, "But dad is pissed and there is this guy here. C'mon, it's after dark Andrew, you know you can't be out after dark."

They ran to the Wells home and Andrew saw his father glare at him, he looked nervously at the man because his father was big and Andrew wasn't so big.

His father suddenly smacked him hard and growled, "You cheated somehow."

Andrew looked upset but the man got up and said, "Mr. Wells, how could he have cheated? They didn't even know the tests were coming."

His mother whispered, "Owen, Andrew didn't cheat, we taught him better than that."

" _You_ taught him," Owen said, "I didn't even want him, I'd have left him to the wolves."

"Then," the man said, "We will perform the test again in a single room upstairs, I have a copy of the test and he can write it here."

Owen nodded and spat out, "He better, then you'll see that he cheated."

He was placed in his parent's room and Owen walked down and growled, "You'll see, he won't get things right this time."

As Andrew looked at the paper he saw the answers and they were clear as day, he didn't think he cheated, did he? Umm, no he couldn't have cheated, he just knew the answers.

The man waited and saw Andrew come down half an hour later, the Professor smiled and said, "This shall not take a second." He looked over the test, he nodded and said, "This just confirms it: he passed the test perfectly, again."

Andrew stared in shock and said, "Umm, really?"

"Yes," Professor McManus said, "You've earned this, you will be attending Excelsior Academy as soon as possible."

Owen suddenly spat out, "No! That's enough, I'm not letting him go."

Andrew stared and thought, 'Why is dad so angry?'

The Professor frowned and said, "Why?"

"Because his brother deserves it," Owen said with an angry look, "And I am Andrew's legal guardian."

Andrew's mother smiled sadly and said, "Owen, you're not his legal guardian, remember when he got hurt five years ago? Sorry, he broke his arm and Owen was nowhere to be found. So Owen, who had been out with his friends at the time, said that if I cared so much for him then I should be his legal guardian so he signed the papers and everything and Andrew, I'm going to tell you to go with the professor tonight, please?"

The Professor saw the defeated look on Owen Wells's face and said, "Of course, come along Andrew we shall collect your belongings."

As the two of them left Owen looked at his wife and June said, "You wanted him gone, remember?"

"Not like this," Owen said, "Not being given a free ride. Tucker is our biological son, Andrew isn't."

"Whoa! Wait, what!?" Tucker said, "Andrew's adopted? Huh, I guess that's why he doesn't look like anyone else in the family, but why does it matter? He's a Wells and probably the first one ever to succeed at anything."

Owen looked at his wife and said, "You love Andrew?" She nodded and he said, "I will not pursue this if you disown him with me, he doesn't deserve our name."

"Bitch move dad," Tucker snarled, "Mom and Andrew are close, why would you make her do this?"

June Wells nodded and said, "That is alright but I will say goodbye to him."

Owen was incensed, they had literally found Andrew in the woods, a bawling little brat and, of course, June had fallen in love with him; she kissed him and cuddled him as he clung to her. He had allowed her to keep him but now he couldn't ignore Andrew's oddness, yeah the boy was gay he could've lived with that but he'd be damned before he let any child outshine his flesh and blood child, especially the boy.

June walked to Andrew and said, "You're going to be a good boy, okay? This letter will explain everything."

"Umm, okay mom," Andrew said as she hugged him and passed a few things in a bag to him and she looked at her husband who had a dark look on his face.

She looked at Tucker as Andrew left and she said, "Owen, you've been getting worse over the years, blaming us for your problems; if it wasn't me then it was Andrew or your cousins or brother."

Owen looked ill and June said, "Tucker, we're leaving your father tonight, I'll keep my promise to not see or talk to Andrew until he's a legal adult. Tucker and I will be living with your cousin."

"Fine," Owen said looking defeated, his life was crashing around him and it was all that little freak's fault, who said that he could be smarter than Tucker or himself but at least he thought he was well rid of that brat, let him find out how much of a loser he was on his own.

He walked out and saw a young man and older man walk by and Owen looked at them bleary eyed and said, "Tony?"

Tony Harris spat at him and said, "Xander, don't you ever become like him," and they walked off in disgust.

 _Two weeks later._

Andrew was walking through the gates of Excelsior Academy, he was still upset but Professor McManus was his legal caretaker now, he didn't know what he had did that was so wrong but he supposed he had to do what his mother wanted him to do.

The Professor walked with him and explained that there were a few other people that impressed them but he was in a league of his own.

That confused Andrew, he knew he had been kinda smart but he figured that it was above average but it started that day a few weeks ago.

He saw several well-dressed students and realized, to his surprise, that they were all male, he looked at the Professor and said, "Mr. McManus?"

"Ah yes, the girls who might have passed the test would've been sent to our sister academy in New York," the Professor said with a warm smile, "Now, ah, here's the student who will be showing you around Andrew."

The man was tall and good looking with piercing blue eyes and thick dark hair, the man took Andrew's hand and said, "Hello, I'm Bruce Wayne."

"Andrew," he said, "Umm, it's just Andrew."

"Just Andrew?" Bruce said with a smirk, "Why is that?"

"Umm," Andrew said, "Because apparently I was disowned for, umm, being smarter than my brother, I have no last name now, dad said I don't deserve it."

Bruce frowned and said, "Come with me."

As they walked Andrew listened intently and he learnt a lot by watching things, he saw a kid wearing a hat and his friend being picked on by a blonde man, Bruce frowned and said, "Those are juniors like you: Oliver Queen and Lex Luthor."

Andrew looked and wondered vaguely why were they doing that? Andrew looked at Bruce and said, "Umm, Mr. Wayne?"

"Yes Andrew," Bruce asked, "What is it?"

"Does this place have a good machine shop where I could work on machines or what have you?" Andrew asked, "I just want to know?"

"Ah, of course," Bruce said, "Over there on the third floor, though most students here study the arts."

"I like art," Andrew said, "But I'd like to work with machines."

Bruce nodded and continued the tour and as he they walked back to the office the Professor said, "Ah, Mr. Wayne, Andrew, we're almost finished now but I need to know Andrew, what do you want your last name to be?"

Andrew frowned, he could reinvent himself here and as he looked at the group he heard the voice whisper, " _Bound are we now, son of Stark."_

He looked up and said, "Stark…. I want to be known as Andrew Stark…"

TBC

Note: Bruce is at the Academy because he's rich and could afford to be there while on his travels.

What do you think the voice that Andrew keeps hearing is?

Andrew will be in a slash relationship, who should he be with: Bruce, Lex or Oliver?

Will Oliver try to bully Andrew like he did with Lex? How will Andrew respond to that?

Please rate and review.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Same as previous chapter

AN: Oliver Queen at this point in time was a bully at the Academy.

Chapter one

Three months later Andrew wasn't sure about the Academy, he liked the place but the rich kids weren't very nice or at least a few of them weren't, was it really just because he was best friends with Lex Luthor? He had found out that they had had things in common and Lex looked like he needed a friend along with Duncan but he noticed that they weren't as cruel to him as they were to Lex.

And then there was Bruce Wayne; the man that he was surprised to find out had little friends here but he wasn't picked on like Lex or Duncan were but maybe that was because he was rich and powerful, Lex told him that the Wayne fortune easily dwarfed the Luthor fortune but as Luthorcorp's finances were bound in Metropolis so was the Wayne fortune bound in the City of Gotham, Bruce was super nice though they didn't speak much but he always helped out if he saw that Andrew needed it and he did help him get used to the school.

Truthfully Andrew couldn't figure it out, it couldn't be because he was bald, that wasn't right, but maybe it was because he was as young as Lex was a year or two older than him.

Andrew was walking with them as they talked about comics like those Warrior Angel comics, he hadn't read it because he liked other comics, he looked up in confusion when he saw one of the bullies, umm, Alden push Duncan and the boss, Oliver, who was never far from them, grabbing the comic and Lex tried to get it back.

Bruce blinked as he wandered the halls of Excelsior Academy and he frowned, he had been keeping an eye on Andrew as he was worried because Andrew didn't come from money like everyone else and Queen's crew could be very cruel like they were with Duncan Allenmeyer, it disgusted him but he knew Andrew had actually befriended Lex and Duncan but Queen's group were too afraid to torment Andrew because Queen did not wish to test Bruce's patience.

He heard a hammering sound and he walked to the machine shop, he was kinda surprised they kept it around, he saw Andrew hammering a piece of glowing metal, Andrew then nodded and cooled it down.

Bruce watched curiously in the darkened room as Andrew's hammering created brief flashes of light, Bruce saw Andrew's shadow and nodded.

As Andrew looked at the metal he hammered he walked to a smelter and Bruce watched him pour molten metal into the molds, it was interesting but what was he making?

Andrew nodded and as he began the cooling process he picked the metal pieces up with his gloves, put on a wielding mask and began wielding the pieces together and Bruce waited until he was done.

Bruce said, "Andrew?"

"Oh, hello Mr. Wayne, how's it going?" Andrew asked, "Umm, oh, I didn't wake you up, did I?"

Bruce looked at the metal and said, "Can I?"

Andrew nodded and Bruce picked it up and said, "It's a gauntlet?"

"Yeah," Andrew said as he put some goggles and took the gauntlet back from Bruce and began to work on the individual pieces and said, "Ah, there we are." He put the gauntlet on, he flexed the fingers and he said, "Oh wow, it works, it moves."

Bruce smiled and said, "This is a good reproduction of a gauntlet."

"It's not a reproduction, I'm just not done with it yet," Andrew said, "I have to add it to the other pieces."

Andrew walked over and he added the gauntlet to some other metal pieces on the table and Andrew said, "So, did you know that Oliver ripped Duncan's comic apart? It's not like Duncan can afford to go to get another comic. I don't know why they hate Lex and Duncan so much?"

"Lionel Luthor," Bruce said, "He has a long shadow and he and the Queens, before their demise, had been enemies," Even though he met with them occasionally he knew little other than that, "I have theories about their deaths."

Andrew nodded and said, "Well they shouldn't equate Lex with his father just because his father's a big meanie."

"Meanie?" Bruce chuckled, "Andrew, "meanie" doesn't even begin to describe him."

Andrew nodded and Bruce suddenly became aware that Andrew was wielding some other pieces of metal and adding some technology on to the gauntlet as well. Andrew picked it up and he said, "It's done," and Andrew put on the gauntlet and pressed a button on the side which made some blue and white lights glow and Bruce heard a humming sound. Andrew looked at a cinderblock and he suddenly punched through the block, Bruce heard Andrew scream out in pain as the lights turned red and he pulled the armour off and looked at Andrew's arm.

Andrew sobbed and Bruce said, "It's broken, didn't this gauntlet have any shock absorbers?" Andrew nodded and Bruce looked at the gauntlet and mused that it could be sized to fit his arm and hand, he put it on and punched through another block and said, "Ah, Andrew, this design is good but I never seen you in the gym Andrew."

"Oh, umm, I hate gym," Andrew said, "I've never been good at it."

"This technology requires you to be fit and you need to work out," Bruce said, "Not now of course but after the bone knits."

Andrew nodded and Bruce took him by the hand to the infirmary where Bruce began to take care of him, Andrew looked at him as Bruce set his arm and said, "Won't we need a cast?"

"Yes," Bruce said, "We will, I know how to do that and you will need to take it easy for the next couple of weeks, I'm going to hide that arm piece of yours, no telling what the wrong person could do with it."

Andrew nodded as Bruce walked out and he saw the nurse walk in, the woman smiled kindly and fixed his arm into a cast as Bruce ran back to the machine shop, he picked the device up and frowned; it was rough but if it was fine-tuned, what could it do for humanity: rescue workers being able to lift pieces of rubble out of the way, this could do wonders and he saw it could do against humanity.

As he looked around he realized that he had to make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands so he put it in his room and locked the door, he walked back and saw Andrew in a cast and nodded.

The nurse said, "He'll be like that for a few days, it wasn't a bad break."

Bruce breathed deeply in relief and he said, "Come Andrew, I believe it's time for breakfast."

Andrew smiled and said, "Okay Mr. Wayne."

They walked to the main area and Bruce saw Lex and Duncan sitting in a corner, he pitied both of them as he could tell that Lex was a target, other than Andrew and Duncan Lex had no friends, he was reclusive; very smart but prone to fits of sadness and psychological issues. Bruce frowned, Lex's father seemed to spoil him, lavishing him with gifts which made it worse.

Andrew, ironically, was the most normal one in that trio but Bruce thought, 'Not anymore,' as he saw Queen walk to them with Alden and Geoffrey and he glared at them, he knew that Alden and Geoffrey had a particular anger towards Andrew and Duncan as they believed that only the rich should be here but they were Queen's servants, nothing more nothing less.

Oliver was an enigma; he feared Bruce Wayne, he hated Lex and Duncan but he only lumped Andrew with the two other boys because Andrew befriended them over a mutual love of comics or so Andrew had told him and other things. Oliver looked up and Bruce saw him look at Andrew's broken arm.

"So," Oliver said, "How'd the little moron break his arm?"

Andrew looked up and saw Oliver back away from Bruce and Lex said, "So Andrew, how'd you break your arm?"

"Umm, in the machine shop," Andrew said, "I was tinkering and, umm, the thing I created kinda backfired on me."

Bruce frowned and said, "It'll be better soon as it was a clean break."

"Oh, umm, thank you," Andrew said, "For helping me out there. Oh god, the thing I made.

"It's safe," Bruce said, "But be careful, okay? I'll talk to you later."

Oliver frowned three months and he didn't pick on Lex's little friend because of Wayne's protection, Lex and Duncan were his pals but Wayne watched him, maybe they were closer? No, Wayne was like granite: cold and not very warm.

"Geoffrey, Alden," he said, "Let's find out more about Stark, I'm curious about him now that Wayne seems protective of him. Anyone know why he's here but not rich?"

"Oh," Alden said, "He won that scholarship. Dad hates it, he says it gives the common folk the wrong idea; Excelsior should be exclusively for us."

Oliver frowned and said, "Tonight we'll find out because I think the tests are really hard to pass."

That night after everyone was asleep Oliver and his buddies made their way to the offices where the student records were kept, Oliver sighed as he looked at Alden who was picking the lock and said, "Hurry up, you never know when the staff might come back and get us in trouble."

They got in and Oliver looked at the file cases and sighed, "Okay, ah, here's Starks personal information."

"Oh my!" Alden said, "I figured he was smart but this is unexpected, look."

Oliver looked at the file with a raised eyebrow and said, "So that's why; he's got a very keen intellect and vast raw untapped potential, there's pamphlets here for MIT and other schools; they're trying to headhunt him already."

Geoffrey frowned and said, "Do you think Lex is trying to him into daddy's pocket? I mean he could be sought after by anyone with a brain."

Oliver suddenly smirked and said, "A genius huh? Lex's a genius but I'd like to make friends with Andrew more."

"One thing," Alden said, "He hates our guts, we bully his worthless buddies, we've called him names and if it wasn't for Wayne protecting him he'd be hating us even more."

"I can charm my way anywhere," Oliver said, "The boy will be my best friend soon enough."

In his room Bruce looked at the gauntlet and he frowned, he would have to train Andrew to use this device and maybe temper his wish to cause Oliver pain, Oliver Queen was a simple bully and any actions could jeopardise his future here so he's going to train Andrew and maybe curb his need to lash out.

He'd do his best to help Andrew.

TBC

I will be having some Sunnydale characters appearing soon, who would you like to see?

Should Andrew's friendships with Lex and Bruce survive after leaving the school?

Will Oliver be able to befriend Andrew?

Please rate and review.


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